Police Caution Removal

If you have been issued with a police caution you may only now be realising the long standing impact a police caution can have.

The caution may affect your professional career and may therefore harm your earning ability.

If you work or intend to work in a trusted profession such as in the police, health, law, security, teaching or other profession, you will need to carry out a CRB (now DBS) check.

A CRB check will show all your cautions and convictions subject to certain rehabilitation periods. Most police cautions will come off a standard DBS check only after 6 years. For some offences, such as ABH or child cruelty, a caution will remain on a standard and enhanced certificate forever.

The police also retain a discretion to disclose all cautions even after the 6 year period on an enhanced DBS certificate.

Remove a Police Caution

You may have read elsewhere on the internet that it is not possible to remove a police caution. This is simply not true. You can remove a police caution if it has been unfairly and incorrectly administered.

An application to remove a police caution should be drafted carefully and preferably by a lawyer with experience of criminal litigation and also public law/human rights law.

Solicitor for Removing a Police Caution

At the police station the police may have told you that the caution was a “slap on the wrists”. They may have also threatened to take you to Court if you didn’t accept the caution.

For many suspects who are given a police caution it will be the first time at the police station and most will be intimidated by the process. The police may have given you the impression that they were your friend and they may have made you think that they were helping you.

If you feel you have been tricked or unfairly coerced into accepting a police caution then you may have a case to remove your caution.

Confidential Caution Removal Advice

A police caution can only be issued if you have made a clear and reliable confession to the offence alleged. It is also very important that the police don’t offer you the caution before you make a confession to the allegation. The police also must not mislead you about the nature nor the impact of the caution.

If you feel you have been unfairly treated then please get in touch for confidential expert legal advice on police caution removal.

Remove a Police Caution Solicitor

Expunging Police Caution solicitor

I am a qualified solicitor and I have extensive experience of applying for the removal of police cautions from the police national computer (PNC).

I have had numerous successful police caution removal cases, and for cases where judicial review proceedings have been issued, I have been able to recoup my clients’ costs from the police.

I am also able to assist in applying for information disclosed on DBS certificates to be removed – if you feel information has been unfairly disclosed you have the right to dispute its disclosure.

I co-authored a journal paper on the reform of the police cautioning procedure in the Criminal Law Review (the leading criminal law journal : “Suggestions for Reform to the Simple Cautioning procedure”). I also recently wrote the UK Westlaw Insight on Police Cautions and published an article in the Criminal Law and Justice Weekly on anonymity in criminal proceedings and its impact on the police caution: Adult Defendant Anonymity in Criminal Proceedings

I can usually offer a fixed fee for police caution and arrest record removals and reasonable hourly rates for DBS barring and certificate disclosure disputes.